Keir Starmer has walked into a trap in Labour’s campaign for the May elections

‘A vote for Labour is a vote to support our nurses,’ claimed the Labour leader. John Rentoul explains how this could go wrong

‘A vote for Labour is a vote to support our nurses’ – Keir Starmer at the launch of Labour’s May elections campaign (PA)

The message of Keir Starmer’s launch of Labour’s campaign for elections in England, Scotland and Wales on 6 May is: “A vote for Labour is a vote to support our nurses.” It is a direct and emotional appeal to people’s values on the one subject where Labour has the strongest connection with the electorate.

So, Starmer could say that it doesn’t matter that English local government and police and crime commissioners have nothing to do with setting nurses’ pay. The Scottish and Welsh parliaments do, and Labour is looking for a broad message to convey the kind of things it stands for across the UK.

But there is another, more serious problem. It is almost as if Boris Johnson, knowing that the Conservatives are always going to be on the defensive on the question of who loves the NHS more, has set a trap. He has painted “Stand Here” on a trapdoor; and now that Starmer has followed the instruction, the prime minister is ready to pull the lever that opens the door.